Welcome to Free Range Finance

A new source of information for escaping your financial chains

Why I'm Starting This Newsletter (And Why You Should Care)

Hello and welcome to Free Range Finance, a newsletter for people who want to break free from living paycheck-to-paycheck and experience the joy of owning their time through real financial independence.

I have never worked on Wall Street. I don’t have a trust fund. I don’t know “one simple trick to getting rich quick”! I'm just someone who realized that the standard American financial path is completely insane.

Leaving insanity behind!

My Story

I grew up being taught that you worked until age 65 (or longer) and hoped Social Security would still exist. The stock market was “rich people playing with their money”, cars were paid for every month with a loan, and everyone had a credit card (or two...or ten).

I was always fairly thrifty, but in 2014 I was introduced to the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement. I didn’t sign up for an expensive course or pay a financial advisor, but instead read free blogs and visited forums of regular people who had figured out how to build wealth in the modern era.

Here's the gist: Financial independence isn't about making six figures (though that helps!) or living on rice and beans (great calorie per dollar ratio) forever. It's about learning some basic principles, making intentional and informed choices with your money, and being patient enough to let compound interest demonstrate that it is indeed the eighth wonder of the world.^¹

What Qualifies Me to Write This?

I am not a certified financial planner. I don’t have experience as a private wealth advisor. Here's what I do have:

• Real experience: Over sixteen years, I increased my net worth from negative(!) to financially independent.

• Actual mistakes: I know where mistakes are often made because I made them myself. If you listen to me, you won’t have to.

• A regular person's perspective: I mow my own yard. I clean my own house. I drive a 17-year old Toyota. I live in a boring suburb. If you’re curious about how to get discount seats on a private jet, you’re in the wrong place.

• A passion for teaching: I have taught these concepts repeatedly over the past ten years to anyone who asked. I genuinely enjoy helping people understand that financial independence is achievable for anyone willing to listen and take action.

What You Can Expect from Free Range Finance

This newsletter will cut through the noise and give you practical and actionable advice on:

• The basics: Banking, emergency funds, debt, and how to save

• Increasing your income: Side hustles, career advancement, and creating multiple income streams

• Reducing expenses: How to live well while saving aggressively (eating real food, indoors, with electricity!)

• Investment strategies: Simple and low-cost approaches to make your money work for you

• Real examples: Over time, I’ll share my own journey and perhaps those of others who inspired me along the way

Why Are You Starting Yet Another Financial Independence Newsletter? How Are You Any Different?

Great question!

1. I want to. I have never written a newsletter and I believe I have something to share on a topic I know much about. Why not put it out in the world and see what happens?

2. I do not use affiliate links (e.g. click here to apply with the bank currently paying me the most to send you to them!)

3. I do not promote on behalf of any business (e.g. make sure to read my recent post on how buying a Kitchenaid mixer can save you money on bread!)

4. I won’t post pictures of myself in a camper van on the beach with a beautiful sunset. Probably.

Why "Free Range"?

Financial independence means having the freedom to choose how you spend your time. It's about breaking free from the constraints of traditional employment and creating a life where money works for you, not the other way around.

Just like free-range animals roam freely instead of being confined, financially independent people make choices based on what they want to do, not what they have to do to pay the bills.

What's Next?

In upcoming newsletters, we'll get started on the basics:

• How to calculate your FI number

• The simple math behind early retirement

• What to do first

• A little more about me and my journey

Are you ready to start your journey to financial freedom? Click the subscribe button (it’s free) and get started breaking out of the financial cage!

Here's to your free range future,

Max

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1. Credit to Albert Einstein here. He said: “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it.”